Knockdown ski



Patented Dec. 17, 1940 PATENT OFFICE 2,z24.a9': KNOCKDOWN sin Harry B. Burton. Worcester, Mass, and Albert A. Burton and Ernest V. Burton, Wllllmantic,

Conn.

Application February 27, 1939, Serial No. 258,6.

7 Claims.

The present invention relates to skis, which are adapted to be knocked down or separated into sections, for greater convenience in transporting.

The principal object of the present invention a is to construct a knockdown or divisible ski which will provide for absolute rigidity between the ski sections, and have at least as much resistance to bending and to torsion as has a onepiece ski. In prior devices of this character, the

10 joint or connection by which the sections of the ski have been held together, has not provided the necessary rigidity to permit the ski to function in the same manner as a single-piece ski; moreover, these prior devices have not had the necessary ease of disassembly and assembly, and in many instances the securing means for the two ski sections has interfered materially with the mounting of the binding by which the ski is held securely on the ski boot.

20 Our invention overcomes all thesedifiiculties; not only does it serve for easier transporting of the skis, but it allows the ski to be made from shorter pieces of wood, thus minimizing the possibility of warping, and giving a much wider range of selection from the straight grained wood pieces used in ski manufacture, with resultant lowering of costs.

Our invention provides a clamping means which when moved into operative position draws 30 the ski sections firmly together, and which when moved into releasing position serves to initiate the endwise separation of said sections, thus overcoming any resistance, from accumulated ice or snow, to the quick disassembly of the ski.

The above and further objects and advantages of the invention will more fully appear from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which- Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of the 40 meeting ends of the two ski sections constructed in accordance with the invention, and being partly broken away to disclose the construction.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the joined sections.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a schematic view illustrating the operation of the clamping means.

Like reference characters refer to like parts in the different figures.

With reference to the drawing, the ski, which 55 in general configuration is conventional in char- (Cl. 280-1L13) acter, consists of a front section I and a rear section 2 which are rigidly joined together by an elongated channel member 3 located substantially midway of the length of the ski. The channel member is of metal, shallow in cross 5 section and its rear half flts over the top side of the rear section 2 of the ski, being tightly secured thereto as by screws 4. The legs of the channel member have flanges 3 which engage in grooves 5 in the sides of rear section 2 for a more rigid union of the channel member with said rear section.

The channel member extends forwardly beyond the front end of the section 2 and its forward half is adapted to receive snugly the inner end of the front section I of the ski. This front section, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, has longitudinally extending side grooves {in which the inturned flanges 3' are received. The ski sections engage snugly against the inside surfaces of the metallic channel member 3, thus eliminating any play or lost motion between the parts; preferably, the sides of both sections, for the length of the chanel, are cut away as shown at a by an amount corresponding to the thickness of the stock of thechannel member's sides, so that the channel member on its outer side surfaces is flush with the sides of the front and rear ski sections l and 2. Thus the channel member 3 not only obtains by its substantial inclosure of the rear ski section 2, a rigid union with that part, but its forwardly projecting portion, into which the front ski section I is longitudinally slidable, obtains an equally substantial inclosure, virtually on four sides or surfaces, of that part; in this way, the channel serves to hold the ski sections, when assembled, in absolute alinement.

To secure an efiective union of the assembled ski sections at their meeting ends-within the channel, said ends are preferably formed with matching bevelled or scarfed surfaces 1 and 'i'; above its bevelled surface I, the end of the front section I provides an overhanging tongue 4 8, for the reception of which the end of the rear section 2 is formed with a correspondingly shaped cut-away portion 9. In this way, any tendency for the bottom surfaces l0 and H of the ski sections to be forced out of their common plane is effectually resisted.

To force and hold the meeting ends in close engagement within the channel, a clamping means of the construction shown in Figs. 2, 3 and4 is preferably employed. For this purpose,

the upper surface of the front ski section I, at a point contiguous to the forward end of channel 3,'is recessed to receive a metal plate 12, the latter having its upper surface substantially 5 flush with the upper surface of the ski section, and being securely held in place by suitable screws l3, IS. The plate l2 provides a threaded aperture H, alining with a bored-out portion l8 of the front ski section I. In this threaded l0 bore H is adjustably received an upright threaded member I5, whose upper end provides an overhanging lug or enlargement II. The enlargement I'I provides a trunnion or hearing for the passage of a pin I8, the latter extending eccentrically through a substantially cylindrical clamping cam or member I! which, at its intermediate portion, is suitably slotted or recessed as at to accommodate the enlargement or head I I by which said cam member 20 20 is thus pivotally supported.

Secured to the cam member i9 is an operating lever 2|, by which said member 20 is rockable on the pivotal axis of pin l8. In the clamping position of member 19, with the operating lever extending rearwardly and overlying the channel 3, said member I9 is positioned immediately above a cooperating concave surface 22 which in the present instance, is formed in a transverse plate 23 integrally secured, as by riveting, welding, or

the like, to the upper surface of channel member I at the forward end of said channel. As shown, a notch 24 is provided in the forward edges of channel 3 and plate 23, to avoid interference with the upright threaded member I! which supports the cam or clamping member l9. This vertically adjustable mounting provided by threaded member l5 for the cam member l9, permits the latter to be very accurately positioned for the accomplishment of the desired wedging action between said member 19 and the underlying concave surface 22 of the channel member 3,-it being understood that by this vertical screw adjustment, the clamping member can be positioned or re-positioned to compensate for wear of the clamping surfaces, or for any shrinkage or expansion of the parts encountered in the use of the ski.

As shown somewhat exaggeratedly in Fig. 5, the concave surface 22 is formed on a slightly larger radius than the cooperating arcuate surface 25 of member l9. With the latter at the correct vertical adjustment for the desired wedging action, it will be apparent from Fig. 5 that downward pressure on lever 2| will wedge the surface portion 25 against the forward portion 26 of concave surface 22, thereby producing such relative endwise movement, toward each other, of the sections as is needed to eliminate all vestige of end clearance between them; in Fig. 5, this 0 movement is represented as shifting the concave surface 22 from its full line to its broken line position. Then, conversely, on the opposite movement of lever 2| to unlock the parts, the surface portion 25 will engage the rear portion 21 of the concave surface 22 and produce by such engagement a forcible slight endwise separation of the parts which is sufficient to overcome any tendency of the parts to be stuck together by the accumulation thereon of ice or snow. On ac- 7 count of this initial separation produced by the unlocking of the clamping device, the disassemblage of the ski is greatly facilitated.

As the front and rear ski sections may be made from separate pieces of wood without matching grain, it is apparent that the length of clear straight-grained wood necessary for the manufacture of the skis of our invention is only approximately one-half that required for single piece skis. Moreover, the joint or coupling by which the ski sections of our invention are held 5 together presents a ski assembly which is at least as rigid as a single piece ski, without the inconvenience of the full length ski for transporting or carrying; It may be further noted that the channel member is so arranged that the ski l0 binding may be secured thereto rather than to the wood of the ski, so that the binding may be more'securely mounted than in the conventional ski.

We claim: 15

1. In a knockdown ski, a connecting member secured to one ski section and adapted for endwise reception of the other ski section, clamping means associated with said connecting member and said other ski section, and movable to pro- 20 duce a wedging action on both its clamping and its releasing movements, said wedging action on the locking movement causing relative endwise movement of the parts toward each other and said wedging action on the releasing movement 25 causing relative endwise movement of the parts away from each other.

2. In a knockdown ski, a connecting member secured to one ski section and adapted for endwise reception of the other ski section, a concave surface on said connecting member, a cooperating rockable clamping member carried by said other section for wedging engagement with said concave surface, and means for vertically adjusting said rockable member relative to said concave surface to compensate for wear and for shrinkage or swelling of the parts.

3. A knockdown ski comprising front and rear ski sections, a channel member positioned over and engaging with the top and sides of the for- 40 ward end of the rear section and extending beyond the end thereof to receive the end of the front ski section, said channel member having inturned edges engageable in grooves in the sides of the ski sections, said ski sections having cn- 5 operating beveled surfaces on adjacent ends thereof with the surfaces extending downwardly and rearwardly of the ski, and means for holding the front section releasably within the channel member. 50

4. A knockdown ski comprising two ski sections,

a channel member positioned over and engaging with the top and sides of one of said sections and extending beyond the end thereof to receive the end of the other ski section, and releasable clamp- 55 ing means on said other section and engageable with the channel member to hold said other section within the channel, said clamping means including a clamp on said other ski section having cam elements engageable with the top surface of 6 the channel member for holding the latter against the top of said other ski section and for urging said ski sections relatively endwise into secure engagement with each other.

5. A knockdown ski comprising two ski sections, 65 a channel member positioned over and engaging with the top and sides of one of said sections and extending beyond the end thereof to receive the end of the other ski section, and releasable clamping means on said other section and engageable 7 with the channel member to hold said other section within the channel, said clamping means including cam elements on the end of the channel which extend over said other ski section, said cam elements presenting at least one surface extend- 75 ing downwardly toward the opposite end of said channel member, and a clamping element mounted on said other ski section and engageable with said cam elements for holding the channel member against the top of said other ski section and for urging said ski sections relatively endwise into secure engagement with each other.

6. A knockdown ski comprising front and rear ski sections, a channel member positioned over and engaging with the top and sides of the forward end of the rear section and extending beyond the end thereof to receive the end of the front ski section, said channel member having inturned edges engageable in grooves in the sides of the ski sections, and means for holding the front ski section releasable within the channel member, said last means including a downwardly and rearwardly inclined surface adjacent the forward end of the channel member and on the upper side thereof, and a clamping member carried by said front ski section and engageable with said downwardly and rearwardly inclined surface for clamping the channel member tightly against the top of said front ski section and for urging said ski sections relatively endwise into secure engagement with each other.

'7. In a knockdown ski, a connecting member secured to one ski section and adapted for endwise reception of the other ski section, a concave surface on the upper side of said connecting member, a cooperating rockable clamping member carried by said other section and above said concave surface for wedging engagement with said concave surface, said clamping member having a convex surface engaging with said concave surface, and means for vertically adjusting said rockable clamping member relative to said concave surface to compensate for wear and for shrinkage or swelling of the parts.

' HARRY H. BURTON.

ALBERT A. BURTON. ERNEST V. BURTON. 

